


Adventures in Animal Rescue

by queenbookwench



Category: Magic Shop - Bruce Coville
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 16:14:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbookwench/pseuds/queenbookwench
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Technically it had started with the Toad Incident back in 5th grade, and there had been one or two instances of Weird Shit since then. </p><p>That was how Sharra Moncrieffe thought of it--Weird Shit, capital letters definitely included.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adventures in Animal Rescue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheSecondBatgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondBatgirl/gifts).



It all started when Jen Murdley rolled up on her moped and crashed Katie Young's party. Well, technically it had started with the Toad Incident back in 5th grade, and there had been one or two instances of Weird Shit since then. That was how Sharra Moncrieffe thought of it--Weird Shit, capital letters definitely included. 

But this time, it started with Jen showing up on that rusted-out moped. Technically, she wasn't crashing the party because Katie invited _everyone_ \--Katie was the kind of popular girl who was so nice you couldn't even hate her. Sharra thought it was a little disgusting how nice she was, honestly. But anyway, Jen hated parties and would never have shown up on a normal day. 

Which was how Sharra knew something was really wrong. That, and the fact that their eyes met across a crowded backyard and Jen made this kind of urgent head-jerking gesture that clearly meant, "Come over here; don't make me walk the football player gauntlet."

Sharra considered blowing her off for a minute, she honestly did. It was a decent party, and Tripp Barnes, the placekicker who was currently flirting with her, was pretty cute and not a total chauvinist. And she and Jen weren't exactly friends--well, okay, they sort of were, but it was complicated. 

Sharra told herself it was because she had gotten a little bored with Tripp, but the reason didn't really matter. She made a head-gesture back that meant , "I'm coming, give me a minute to get out of this gracefully," handed Tripp her drink, and made her way across the yard to where Jen was hovering.

"This better be good, Murdley."

"Whatever, Moncrieffe. You know I wouldn't have come out here if it wasn't important. You're not drunk, are you?"

Sharra rolled her eyes. "No."

"Good. Because I could use your help--and your car."

"Aww, I knew you were just using me."

"You know you love it. Besides, you'll want to see this." 

"What is it?" 

"Tell you once we're out of here. C'mon--we can load my moped in the back."

The party was in full swing, so only a few people saw Sharra slip away, trooping down the sidewalk to where Jen's moped was parked near Sharra's new silver RAV4. For a largish person whose fashion sense ran to flannel and Doc Martens, Jen was good at not being noticed. Sharra herself was pretty into being noticed most of the time, but just now she was happy to fly under the radar. There’d be fewer questions at school the next day.

They hefted Jen’s moped into the back storage area and sped off. Jen didn’t seem to be in a mood to talk, and Sharra wasn’t either. That was the nice thing about Jen--if you didn’t want to talk, she didn’t try to make you. 

They didn’t really have much in common, Sharra reflected, outside of this "dealing with Weird Shit" thing that they did together. Jen wasn’t particularly interested in fashion, economics, or organized sports, and Sharra wasn’t into creative writing or computers or Science Club--not that she didn’t like science, but she was still protective enough of her image to not want to hang out in the Nerd Corner. 

After a couple of miles, Jen said “All right, pull over. I hope it’s okay. Jerome and Roxanne stayed to keep an eye on it, but it’s so much bigger than they are. I’m not sure they could do much if it decided to panic and run off.”

“You still haven’t told me what this thing is, Jen.” 

“I really think you should see it for yourself.”

As they hopped out of the SUV, a very small voice said, “Aww, Jennifer, didja have to bring her?”

Sharra flipped the bird in the general direction of the voice. “I have a car, ratface. Do you want my help or not?”

Sharra was really kind of over the whole intelligent talking rat thing at this point. 

Once she spotted Jerome (wearing a scowl on his ratty face) and Roxanne (wearing an apologetic, don’t-mind-him expression on hers), it was easy to see a small trail of crushed grass and leaves. Sharra started down it in search of the whatever-it-was, then paused.

“Hey, Jen! This thing’s not going to try to bite me or anything like that?”

Now it was Jen’s turn to roll her eyes. “No. I don’t actually hate you, Sharra. I’d warn you first if it was dangerous.”

“But you’d come get me anyway.”

It was a statement, not a question. Well, mostly not a question.

“Well, yeah. You can take it.”

“Careful, _Jennifer_. That sounded sort of like a compliment.” 

Jen just snorted in response.

Sharra continued down the path, then stopped short, looking down in astonishment at the creature who lay before her, cushioned in a small hollow of grass. Open-mouthed, she took in the sleek white fur, the dark, luminous eyes, the stub of a horn in the center of the forelock. She felt a wave of something as she looked into its eyes--something like kindness and love and the feeling of watching a really glorious sunset, all jumbled together. 

"Yeah, I know." Jen whispered from behind her. "That's why I wanted you to see for yourself. But we do actually have to move him now. He's hurt."

Sharra shook herself all over, breaking the spell. Peering at the unicorn with a more practical eye, she saw the ugly red gashes on his side and forelegs.

Her mind filled with questions, but she forced herself to concentrate on the immediate problem. "Okay, you're the expert. What do we do?"

"I've got my motorcycle jacket right here. I was thinking you could wrap it around him and then help me pick him up so I can carry him back to the car." 

"No wait, I have a picnic blanket in the back seat. We can use that."

As Jen's boots stumped back to the SUV, Sharra fell into the unicorn's eyes again, the previous emotion now accompanied by a fierce desire to kick the ass of anyone who'd hurt such a being.

With only a bit of fumbling, they loaded the unicorn into the back seat and Jen climbed beside him, the rats having scrambled up onto her shoulders so they could get in too. The unicorn let out a high pitched whimper when the blanket touched his gashes, but was otherwise calm, as if he sensed that they were trying to help him. _Hell, this is an actual unicorn_ , Sharra thought, _he probably could_.

She was turning the key in the ignition and getting ready to pull away, when a long black car turned off the main road and slowed down beside them. 

"Oh, fuck no," Jen whispered. Jen almost never swore. 

"What, Murdley? It's probably just cops, right?"

"Maybe. But maybe not. We aren't the only ones who know that there's still magic in the world, and not all of them are good people. Can this thing go off road?"

"I've never done it--my mom would kill me if I took my brand new car off road--but probably."

"Well, we might have to. Get ready."

"Okay, but if it gets scratched, I'm giving Mom your number and telling her it's all your fault."

"Worth it. We can't let them search the car."

At that moment, the door of the long black car swung open, and two men in suits that made them look a little like Agent Jay and Agent Kay from Men in Black stepped out. "Highway Patrol, Miss, would you please step out of the car?"

Sharra rolled down her window just a little. "I see you're in an unmarked car, officers. Would you mind showing me your badges?" 

"Now see here, young lady. We've had reports of teenagers selling drugs out here, and if you don't open up we could charge you with resisting arrest. That pretty face of yours wouldn't look so nice in a mug shot, now would it?"

Sharra smiled her widest and most vapid smile, "Well, you know, officers, my daddy--you might have heard of him, he's Gary Moncrieffe of Moncrieffe Mills--he always said I should know my rights, and you know, we're two girls alone on the side of the road and you guys could be anybody. No offense. I was just helping my friend load up her moped, and you can see it's right here. Now, unless you can show me a badge, I think you better be on your way before I use my brand new cell phone to call Daddy for some legal advice."

"I think we can let you off with a warning for now," said the suit Sharra had mentally dubbed Agent Kay. "Be safe out here, Miss Moncrieffe. We'll see you around." 

After they drove off, Sharra let out a long, nervous breath. "Whew. The forces of evil are either really in a rush or else they're major cheapskates. They didn't even bother getting good fake badges for their low rent thugs. And those suits were really cheap-looking."

Jen burst out laughing.

"What??"

"Only you," she gasped, "would critique evil's fashion choices."

Shares couldn't help cracking up too, and even the rats' tiny voices could be heard laughing. "Somebody has to! Details are important."

Jen was the first to calm down and get serious. "We'd better move in case they decide to come back. Roxanne, Jerome, can you two get back to the Magic Shop from here?" 

Roxanne nodded "You want us to go alert the boss, Jennifer?"

"Yeah, I think he and Miss Priest need to know."

A tiny pinpoint of light appeared in the back seat of the SUV, and the rats disappeared.

"Hey! Why can't we just do the beam-me-up-Scotty trick to get to the Magic Shop?"

"Was that a _Star Trek_ reference? I knew you were a closet geek--you can't fool me! Anyway, Roxanne and Jerome are immortal talking rats, so the rules are a little different for them."

“Wait, Jen. Where are we going?”

"We'll figure it out on the way!" Sharra floored it and they headed off into the night, in search of a veterinarian who would treat unicorns.

**Author's Note:**

> Since the characters are in middle school in _Jennifer Murdley's Toad_ , which came out in 1992, I'm assuming this takes place around 1998 or so.


End file.
